Sienna Miller was pelted with boxes of seagulls and pigeons while making Hitchcock drama The Girl.

The actress explained the ordeal she underwent to convincingly recreate the iconic scene from 1963 film The Birds.

Sienna stars as Tippi Hedren in the television adaptation, which charts famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock's obsession with blonde star Tippi.

"I did go through a bird attack for two hours. It pales in comparison to what she was subjected to, but it was pretty horrible," Sienna told British television magazine the Radio Times.

"There were men off-camera with boxes of birds, throwing seagulls and pigeons in my face."

Alfred famously became infatuated with Tippi after seeing her in a television commercial. The movie director then sought the previously unknown actress out and purposely cast her in his film. Hitchcock allegedly turned vindictive when Tippi rebuffed his advances on set, which Sienna explained the psychology behind.

"I think [Hitchcock] wanted to create his ideal blonde, his ideal woman," Sienna explained. "He found this unknown so that he could mould her. Initially she trusted him. Then it started to get really weird."